Nonslipping abdominal bandage



Dec. 17, 1929 A. E..SAUTER NONSLIPPING ABDOMINAL BANDAGE Filed NOV. l5. 1927 vantage.

Patented Dec. 17, 1929 ua 'rao sra'ras ALFRED E. SA'UTER, or Bnonx, ivnw YORK NONSLIPPING- ABDOMINAL BANDAGE Application fi led November 15, 1827. Serial No. 233,377.

This invention relates to abdominal bandages; more particularly for use with'newborn babies. Bandages of this general type are primarily required until healing has been fully completed at the umbilical region, in order to prevent protrusion of any of the abdominal viscera with resultant umbilical hernia, as well as to position, strengthen and support the entire wall of the abdominal cavity and overcome any weakness therein due to any arrest of development which might result in a rupture. p

To prevent improper distension of the abdominal wall, the bandage must closely and relatively firmly embrace the body of the infant at all points between the costal zone housing the stomach, and the pelvic region; and yet the pressure upon the parts should not be such as to cause irritation to the infant or impede free movement of the body and proper development of the organs within the abdominal cavity.

Bandages heretofore used for these purposes have generally consisted of a strip of material wrapped about the infants body and pinned, sewed or otherwise fastened in place. To overcome the disadvantages and dangers accompanying the use of pins and the like, the bandage may be fastened by means of tapes or strings attached to the bandage, permanently or otherwise. However, bandages as previously used having tape or string securing devices possess at least one disad- For instance, the attempt to provide a bandage having the necessary resiliency to afford free movement of the babys body has resulted in allowing too much resiliency or looseness at certain portions of the bandage so that the bandage has been caused to slip or move up or down along the body, this displacement nullifying to a substantial extent the normal and proper function and effect of the bandage. I

The primary object of my invention is to enable a bandage of the above character to properly conform to the requirements of the infants body, whether the girth is large or small, and be securely held in place at all times against slipping or displacement during natural movements of the infant, while at the same time being resilient so as'to permit 'such movements without irritation or interference.

Another object is to enable the bandage to be secured by means of tapes permanently secured tothe bandage in the proper locaportions or folds, one inner and one outer. I

The inner portion or fold may be entirely seamless, having no stitches or other additions thereto, and the outer portion or fold may be equipped with slip-preventing devices and securing devices as hereinafter set forth. The inner and outer folds are co-eXtens'ive with each other and may be formed in one continuous strip.

The material of which the bandage is formed is preferably of very soft texture and slightly resilient so as to readily conform to the more or less irregular shape of the body parts, both to impose a slight degree of pressure upon the abdominal wall and to prevent distension, and to permit a slight amount of stretching during movement of the body without cramping, chafing or otherwise irritatingor disturbing the infant.

Ihave found French flannel to be a very suitable material for these purposes. This type of flannel is highly regarded by medical men and is particularly adapted for obstetrical use as herein set forth. It is soft and comfortable to theskin, and keeps the body warm in any climate. It consists of a articularly. spongy mass, the fibres of w ich touch each other so lightly that p the heat moves slowly through the interstices, which latter are filled up with air in a stagnant state. Insensible perspiration is thus promoted, and this, being absorbed by the material, is immediately distributed through the whole thickness and exposed over a large surface, to be carried off by the atmosphere, While still retaining the heat of the body.

I have discovered that the combination of a more or less resilient material of this character in a continuous strip including co-extensive inner and outer folds with flexible, inextensible portions suitably located on the bandage, by stitching or the like, produces a bandage which is not liable to slip when on the body of the infant, and having important advantages and improvements over other bandages heretofore used. In accordance with my invention the bandage may have a plurality of inextensible slip-preventing devices, for instance, narrow tape portions 1 9 stitched along the exterior of the outer portion or fold of the bandage, viz., at top and bottom, and extending throughout the length of the outer bandage portion only. The inner portion of the bandage is thus interposed as a cushion between the outer bandage portion and the infants body, thus affording adequate wrapping for the body and at the same time preventing any chafing.

At or about the point where the inner and into each other, a plurality of suitable securing tapes may be stitched or otherwise se cured to the bandage; and these tapes, being disposed at the front when the bandage has a been wrapped about the body, may be tied to complementary tapes located near the opposite extreme outer end of the bandage. The bandage is thereby securely held in place upon the body, affording the proper support at all points; and the inextensible parts of the bandage embrace opposite regions of the body of smaller diameter than the central part or umbilical region, and slipping of the plural. thickness bandage lengthwise of the body is thus effectively prevented.

An additional pair of complementary securing tapes may be located intermediate the top and bottom securing tapes, to afford snug fit at the central part of the bandage. The top and bottom securing tapes may be coextensive with the inext-ensible slip preventing devices or tapes, or may be separate therefrom. An additional reinforcing device or tape may be provided intermediate the top sion or absence of this additional reinforcing tape depending upon the weight of the mate rial used for the bandage, which latter must be such as to effectively hold the abdominal parts in proper position and prevent disten sion. of the ab d men which might occur if the material possessed-too much elasticity. This latter additional reinforcing device or tape may be coextensive with the intermediate set of complementary securing tapes. The

outer bandage portions join with or merge and bottom, slip-preventing tapes, the inclu-- several sets of complementary securing tapes are individually tied together to correspond with the rotundity of the body at the places where the tapes are located, and the bandage is thus securely held in place upon the babys body.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a plan view of the exterior of the bandage as extended preliminary to placement upon the infants body;

Figure 2 is a front elevation o the bandage as it appears when in use; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged diagrammatic top plan view of the bandage as shown in Figure 2, illustrating the cooperative relation between the inner and outer portions or folds of the bandage.

In the forms shown in the drawings, the bandage proper comprises an elongated, rectangular strip of material A including at one end an outer fold or portion B and at the opposite end an inner fold or portion C. The inner fold C, which is preferably seamless and smooth, is adapted to be disposed directly against the body of the infant, at the front of the abdomen; and this fold C is also preferably of such length as to make acomplete circuit of the abdominal region.- The inner fold G in this instance is coextensive with the outer portion or fold B; and the outer fold B is preferably of such length as to also make a complete circuit of the abdomen, being wrapped over the fold O and terminating at the front of the infants body at a point slightly overlapping the point of commencement of the wrapping operation with fold C.

When thus wrapped about the babys body, the bandage is adapted to be secured in position by means of a plurality of tape fasten ings, in this instance three pairs of fastenings, D, E and F, located, respectively, at upper, intermediate and lower portions of the bandage (see Figure 2). Each pair of tape fastenings includes complementary tape ends or portions aand -b. The tape ends a are stitched to the bandage A at points adjacent to the outer extremity of the outer fold B, as seen at -e-, and the tape ends b are stitched to the bandage A as seen at -f, substantially at a point where the outer fold B merges with. the inner fold Ci To prevent the bandage from slipping upward or downward along the body of the infant due to loosenessor resiliency of the bandage material and the plural thickness'produced by the co-extensive folds C; and 13,1

provide in thisinstancea pair offlexible, in-

extensible tapes G and H, respectively. These tapes G and H are disposed along the outer fold B of the banda e, at top andbottom, re spectively, and exten ,7 from the point to the point f-. In this instance the tapes G and H are each coextensive with the. compld mentary tape ends and andare secured to the banda e by stitching J laid along the tapes G and H between the points -e and 'f. The tapes Gr and H may, however, be separate from the tape ends -a and l2 if desired.

As indicated in dotted outline in Figure 1, and. in full lines in Figure 2, an additional inextensible tape K may be provided intermediate the tapes G and H. This tape K may also be coextensive with the tape ends -a and 7)- constituting the intermediate fastening-E or, the tape K may be separate from the latter.

As seen in Figure 3, the inner fold C of the bandage A presents a smooth, unbroken, unstitched and seamless surface to be disposed against the infants body. This fold C thus effectively cushions and isolates the tapes G, H and K, stitching J and fastenings D, E and F, thus preventing any irritation or chafing of the babys skin.

The folds B and C include a plurality of continuous, unbroken stretches of the elastic material, extending longitudinally throughout the length of both folds, one of said continuous elastic stretches extending between the upper fastening D and intermediate fastening E, and the other of said stretches extending between the intermediate fastening E and lower fastening F. These longitudinal stretches are not traversed by any vertical strips, tapes, or other parts, and they are thus enabled to provide for great flexibility and to permit slight stretching in a direction circumferentially of the body.

The double thickness construction of the bandage extending entirely around the infants body is also more advantageous than others heretofore used because of the uniformity hereby obtained. The bandage is usually made of a standard width and length suitable for new-born babies; and at times when the girth of the infant is very small at birth, it will be found that the opposite extremities of the bandage can overlap sufficiently to provide a triple thickness of bandage at the front of the body, thus presenting a further advantage because of the extreme sensitiveness of this portion of the body under conditions where extremely small size of the infant may be due to any arrest of development, as well as providing for adjustability of use with bodies of different girth.

The outer edges of the bandage may be either left unfinished or they may be finished in suitable fashion, as for instance by pinking the same, as indicated at ;0.

While the present showing and description disclose certain particular embodiments of the invention, other forms and modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claim.

What I claim is:

non-slipping abdominal bandage of the character set forth comprising, in combination, an elongated strip of soft, elastic material having at one end an inner fold and at the opposite end an outer fold, both folds coextensive with each other, said outer fold adapted to adjustably encircle the inner fold when placed on the body, a pair of fastening tapes at the upper part of the bandage, a second pair of fastening tapes at the lower part of the bandage, the tapes of both said pairs being stitched to the bandage substantially at points where the inner and outer folds merge into each other, and the tapes of both said pairs at the opposite side being stitched to the bandage near the outer end of the outer fold, a plurality of flexible, inextensible slip-preventing devices for the bandage to prevent upward and downward movement of the layers of the latter when on the body, said slippreventingdevices each comprising a tape portion stitched along the exterior of the outer fold of the bandage and extending substantially throughout the length of said outer fold, one of said slip-preventing devices disposed at the upper part of the bandage and another at the lower part of the latter, said slip-preventing devices coextensive with the complementary tapes of said fastening devices at top and bottom of the bandage, respectively, an intermediate pair of complementary fastening tapes between the fastening devices at top and bottom of the bandage, said inner fold arranged to cushion and isolate all stitched portions of the outer fold from the body of the wearer, said inner and outer bandage folds presenting a plural thickness of material throughout when in position on the body, and both of said folds including a plurality of continuous, unbroken stretches of elastic material extending longitudinally throughout the length of both said folds, one of said continuous stretches between the up-' per and intermediate pair of fastening tapes and the other between said intermediate pair of fastening tapes and the lower pair of fastening tapes.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification.

ALFRED E. SAUTER. 

